Dead Rising 3 Developer Explains What New Features The PC Version Offers

Producer Jon Airhart discusses why this version of the open-world zombie game offers more to PC players.

Dead Rising 3 was first released as a launch title exclusively on the Xbox One. Now, developer Capcom Vancouver is bringing the game to PC in the form of an exclusive Apocalypse Edition with additional options tailored for the platform. But if you've already experienced Dead Rising 3 in all its over-the-top glory on Xbox One, why play it again on PC? GameSpot spoke to producer Jon Airhart to find out.

Full Graphics Options

On the Xbox One, Dead Rising 3 runs natively at 720p and is locked at 30fps. By comparison, the PC version of the game will offer what Airhart describes as a "full suite of graphics options."

"For PC, that meant we needed to go back and put extra work into optimizing the game for the full range of PC gaming hardware out on the market," he said. A PC setup which meets the game's minimum system requirements will be able to play the game at 30fps without reducing the number of zombies in the world. However, while the default fps will be capped at 30, players will be able to remove that limiter.

"Of course, PC gamers love to see what their rigs can do, so we are going to make it easy to remove that cap if you have the equipment to do so and that’s what you want to explore," Airhart said.

Downloadable Content

Dead Rising 3 Apocalypse Edition will include all four "Untold Stories of Los Perdidos" downloadable content episodes. These DLC packs offer four new playable characters and their perspectives of the outbreak. New weapons, vehicles, and costumes will also be included in the DLC, which can be then be used in the main game by protagonist Nick. A digital art book will also be offered as a PC-exclusive bonus.

Mod Support

Like its predecessor, Dead Rising 3 Apocalypse Edition will support user modifications to the game. "Dead Rising is the ultimate sandbox, and if modders decide to turn their creative talents to DR3 (which I hope they do) the sky is the limit," Airhart said when asked about his expectations for the mod community. "With combo vehicles, DR3 has blurred the lines between a vehicle and a weapon, so I expect to see an even wider variety of crazy creations."

Steam Integration

Launching on Steam means the game will include Steam Achievements, Steam Cloud save files, Steam Trading Cards, Steam Leaderboards, and controller support. Capcom Vancouver has traditionally been a "console-focused developer", and Dead Rising 3 Apocalypse Edition marks the first time the developer has utilised Steam's matchmaking system.

"We were very conservative at the outset when planning what features to support as we wanted to make sure everything we did on Xbox One worked for the PC," Airhart said. This meant cutting out cross-platform play as it "simply didn't fit."

Launching on Steam also served as a suitable means of running DRM without interfering with the game. "If I choose to implement some kind of piracy protection, it has to be something that doesn’t detract from the experience. As a player, Steam is how I prefer to play my games, and it’s the platform we are using to release Dead Rising 3," he said. "I think the best thing that I can do as a developer is to create an awesome gaming experience that people want to play."

"For PC, that meant we needed to go back and put extra work into optimizing the game for the full range of PC gaming hardware out on the market,"

So in essence they are just making the restrictions of having terribly low resolution with a ridiculously low FPS cap an optional thing, and allowing PC users to play it as it was developed; on PC with no restrictions. While of course waiting the appropriate amount of time for their exclusivity contract time frame to elapse so they can release it legally on PC.

"I think the best thing that I can do as a developer is to create an awesome gaming experience that people want to play."

Clearly what he means is: "I think the best thing is to sell the exclusivity rights to profit as much as possible, then when the money rights out from sales on the Xbox One and the time of exclusivity has ended, it is the only way to maintain a profit margin by releasing it on PC and sucking up to the public to get people hyped about playing a year old game"

This one and probably still is the best xbox one game. So much fun when I played it at launch. Will probably buy it again on PC too. Highly recommended, but I never really played any other dead rising games so I don't know how mu h ny opinion is worth haha. Those hundreds and hundreds of zombies in hd at 60fps and mods sound amazing though.

They didn't mention a few thing. They haven't figured out proper mouse+kb controls yet and the requirements are crazy. More importantly the developers stated in the Steam forums that running it at 30+ frames is possible but they don't take responsibility for gameplay or technical issues at that point.

@Carpetfluff The 30fps is a CAP, it means the framerate can be lower (during poly-intense scenes) but NEVER higher. Removing the cap simply means that if your rig can handle it (as most mid-level or better computers should be able to) then you don't have an artificial limit imposed.

@Anigmar let me guess, you own a xbox1. *sigh* How do you know they havnt figured out mouse+keyboard controls? Most PC gamers have gamepads, they arnt expensive at all. And you can play at 30 fps on the xb1, so can you at the pc, but any mid spec pc should be able to pull it at past 30 and thats just what they're letting you do. Just go back to your xbox k?

@northArrow Right up there with Titanfall and Ryse. On the one hand I'm happy as a PC gamer... on the other, it just makes the Xbox One less desirable to me. I wouldn't get an Xbox One anyway but this is just one more thing to add to the list of why I won't get one. Double-edged sword.

@zrex2metagor@Anigmar Wrong, I'm a PC gamer and haven't owned a console since SuperNES. And I
know cause the same developer told so in the Steam forums where they've
been answering questions from the users. I know you can buy a pad but
many of us don't like them. Stop making assumptions and check the devs
words if you don't believe me about them saying game can run at 60 fps
but they don't guarantee it won't cause issues.

@Zorlac@exedeath Yes and no. Mod support is one piece of the puzzle... the other is actually having modders who care enough to make mods for the game. It's a two-way street, and I don't see DR3 being one of those games that modders are going to flock to in droves. It will take some miracle for people to jump onto it by the masses.

I modded the living hell out of the PCv DR2 and DR2:OTR right down to adding new missions, new costumes, new characters and new weapons. And, I intend to mod the hell out of this one too, so bring it on.

@lonesamurai1 @jinzo9988 @Zorlac @exedeath I know enough to know that Dead Rising 3 doesn't satisfy any one of four conditions that would lead you to expect great mod support. I never said I controlled it, I said I'm predicting it's not going to take off to any large degree. Learn to properly digest what you read.

#1, Capcom is not a company known for offering awesome mod support. I'd venture to say that it's the opposite in fact. Valve for the most part is a company associated with modding. Bethesda Game Studios is another one.

#2, Dead Rising is not a franchise that's known for mod support. Half-Life is. The Elder Scrolls is. When games from those franchises come out, you froth at the mouth thinking of what mods will come out for them.

#3, the lack of multiplayer structure SEVERELY hinders its appeal for mods, unless of course a multiplayer mod takes off very quickly. Games like Half-Life and Garry's Mod work well because multiplayer games are hosted on servers that regular people own or rent, and that server can upload whatever mods its running onto the players' machines. Dead Rising 3 has seamless 2 player drop-in co-op... it's completely the wrong model. Left 4 Dead suffered very heavily because you couldn't select servers at first, and even when it did offer that option, it's not a multiplayer environment that's conducive to mods because it's a start-to-finish kind of game and not a revolving round-based kind of game. People on Left 4 Dead want to start at the beginning and go to the end... games like Counter-Strike you can just drop right in because every round is a new start, and rounds are 2-8 minutes long roughly.

#4, it's not perceived to be a "PC game". It has the stink of a "console port", and a bad one because of the 30 FPS-lock on it. That's hard to get back from PC game enthusiasts who are enthusiastic enough to get into modding. One exception I can name is GTA San Andreas as far as console port stench is concerned... and again that's a miracle, the same miracle I referenced for Dead Rising 3's mod scene to take off.

I don't see why Anigmar needs to get bashed if he wants to play a game using whatever controller he wants to use. Having a PC you have mandatory access to KB+M, an option to have a console controller. OPTIONS, children, OPTIONS.

@jinzo9988 um there are a few inconsistencies with what you said. one all gta pc version got a lot of mods, vice city being the first. two dead rising has had co-op in it since number 2. so it wont have a lack of multiplayer if anything i see this co-op being expanded on to increase the number of players in the game just like vice city and san andreas. i guess only time will tell i love the series not sure if i want this or not yet.